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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29667492">Mirror Image</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference'>ObscureReference</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Doppelganger, Kissing, M/M, Possibly Unrequited Love, Stabbing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:27:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29667492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The hand Xander wasn’t using to support his weight tangled itself in Laslow’s hair of its own volition. It felt just as soft as he’d always wondered.</p><p>Something prickled against his side.</p><p>Xander crushed his mouth against Laslow’s with winded desperation. Laslow kissed him back soundlessly.</p><p>The knife slid between his ribs with ease.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lazward | Laslow/Marx | Xander</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mirror Image</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a concept I've talked about with some folks a several times before, but after it sitting in my drafts for almost a year, I finally wrote the last three sentences and am now throwing it out there into the world. Hope you enjoy! I will definitely use similar concepts again in the future, lmao.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Xander registered was the silence.</p><p>Laslow was never quiet. Even when he wasn’t chatting up some unlucky woman or making light conversation with other soldiers, servants, or even Xander, seemingly without regard to anyone’s station or duties, he was seldom ever quiet.</p><p>Laslow whistled while he worked. He said “excuse me” to chairs and tables when he bumped them. His footwork had always been light and his steps never made much of a sound, Xander had noticed. But Laslow favorited jingly accessories and always seemed to carry some odd number of loose coins in his pockets rather than a coin purse, so the items he wore announced his presence even when Laslow himself didn’t.</p><p>In addition to all of that, it was standard procedure for a retainer to announce themselves in their lord’s presence, especially when reporting for duty. Laslow had never been one for procedure or propriety; Xander had certainly chewed him out for it enough. However—</p><p>“Laslow?” Xander prompted after Laslow had stood in the tent opening for several beats long enough to be considered ‘hovering.’ “Did you need something?”</p><p>Although Xander did not rise from his seat on the tent floor just yet—there hadn’t been much time plan ahead before being told they had to throw themselves into a bottomless canyon, after all—he did straighten. When Laslow failed to reply, he set the parchment denoting their weapons inventory aside.</p><p>“Laslow,” he said a bit more firmly. “Is something the matter?”</p><p>Finally, Laslow’s eyes stopped wandering around the tent and settled on Xander.</p><p>Xander waited.</p><p>A moment passed. Then Laslow shook his head.</p><p>He resisted the urge to sigh. Was Laslow playing some sort of game with him? He was the teasing type. After five years, Xander knew that all too well.</p><p>But a joke didn’t seem likely this time. Laslow didn’t have the air of someone playing an ill-timed prank. He didn’t look mischievous. He looked dazed, almost. Xander narrowed his eyes.</p><p>“You look pale,” he observed. “Are you feeling alright?”</p><p>Again, Laslow shook his head.</p><p>Xander repressed a sigh. He was growing annoyed at the charades, but he didn’t want to scold Laslow if he were truly feeling unwell either.</p><p>If Laslow was not going to speak for himself, then perhaps hazarding a guess would provide better results.</p><p>“Are you feeling anxious about the upcoming battle then?” Xander asked. “I admit that things have taken an unprecedented turn of events. However, I have full faith in Corrin and the capability of our troops, should anything go awry.”</p><p>Laslow still did not reply.</p><p>With a frown, Xander said, “Laslow, you are my retainer as much as you are my friend. If you have any concerns, I am always here to…”</p><p>Laslow let the tent flap fall shut behind him as he silently padded his way across the tent and to Xander’s side. Xander trailed off, curious as to what Laslow was doing.</p><p>Laslow plopped onto his knees beside him, his unblinking eyes were focused on Xander’s face. It was mildly unsettling. Xander felt increasingly annoyed at his silence and strange behavior.</p><p>“What are you doing?”</p><p>Laslow silently raised his hand. Xander instinctively leaned back, frown deepening. “Are you listening to me? Laslow? Say some—"</p><p>Laslow cupped his cheek. The palm of his hand felt cool, like a stream in spring.</p><p>“—thing,” Xander finished, faltering. He stared.</p><p>Laslow did not immediately move again. His hand rested against Xander’s face.</p><p><em>Tentative? </em>Xander wondered. <em>Testing? </em></p><p>His face appeared carefully blank. Xander tried to school his own expression and found it took significantly more effort than it should have.</p><p>Despite himself, he did not knock Laslow’s hand aside.</p><p>A heavy silence passed between them. There was a tension in the air that Xander had felt before. One he’d always carefully shattered or removed himself from whenever it had sprung up in the past, just as Laslow had always done the same.</p><p>He’d assumed they had a mutual, silent, understanding on the matter.</p><p>Xander didn’t have time to reply those moments in his head though. Not when Laslow was looking at him like that. Not with Laslow’s calloused fingers still lingering on his cheek.</p><p>It took a considerable amount of resolve for Xander to stay where he was and not do anything too sudden or foolish.</p><p>In the back of his mind, he suspected Laslow would take care of that foolish behavior for him—as he always had.</p><p>Xander could not decide how he felt about the prospect. But he suspected what was about to happen next.</p><p>It wasn’t a surprise when Laslow tipped forward and pressed his lips against Xander’s, rising a little on his knees to make up for the height difference between them. His mouth felt just as cool and refreshing as his fingers.</p><p>It wasn’t a surprise, but a small wave of guilt washed over Xander anyway. What was he <em>doing</em>? What was he <em>allowing</em> Laslow to do? Laslow was his subordinate, first and foremost. Xander hadn’t been lying when he’d claimed Laslow to be a friend, but that was all Laslow ever <em>could</em> be. Xander was the crown prince, and Laslow was—</p><p>Unorthodox.</p><p>He had a kingdom to worry about, a dragon to slay. They both had responsibilities. Responsibilities they should have been attending to as Laslow pressed himself against Xander’s chest, gently moving his lips against Xander’s stiff mouth.</p><p>Xander’s eyes had fallen shut at some point. He didn’t bother opening them, instead laying a hand over Laslow’s on his own cheek. He couldn’t bring himself to push Laslow off just yet, however.</p><p>They were days, perhaps hours, away from the battle of a lifetime, and they were barely prepared. Now was not the time for—for some sort of secret confession or rendezvous. Whatever this was.</p><p>What this wouldn’t be, Xander mentally corrected. He had to put a stop to this.</p><p>He told himself to push Laslow away. When that didn’t work, a voice that sounded a lot like his father’s <em>ordered</em> him to do so. This had to stop. Now.</p><p>He peeled Laslow’s hand away from his cheek and squeezed. Not too tight. A warning.</p><p>Laslow nipped his lower lip.</p><p>Xander’s resolve broke.</p><p>He was kissing back before he realized what he was doing, clumsily knocking his teeth against Laslow’s in his overeager passion. Embarrassed, Xander began to pull back, but Laslow merely followed, his lips gliding against Xander’s with all the ease of an iceberg sliding along the water. Goosebumps broke out across Xander’s arms.</p><p>He’d leaned back so far that he was forced to put his hands behind himself on the tent floor to keep from falling over. Laslow didn’t seem to mind. The speed with which he moved his mouth against Xander’s had not quickened, but he climbed into Xander’s lap just as confidently as he would a horse’s back. Though more slowly, as though not to spook Xander.</p><p>In the back of his mind, Xander laughed at the comparison. Perhaps a tad hysterically. He blamed the oxygen deprivation.</p><p>It was as though Laslow didn’t need to breathe. Or perhaps he was just more experienced. Xander didn’t want to dwell on it; he’d gone breathless in an appallingly short amount of time. The sudden reality of the moment had knocked the wind out of him.</p><p>He could have—should have—pulled back for a breath. Pulled back to tell Laslow they had to talk about this. But doing so meant putting a pause in this dreamlike moment, meant coming back to reality. Selfishly, Xander didn’t want to stop. He was losing himself to Laslow’s weight in his lap, against his mouth, his chest.</p><p>Laslow’s hands were sliding their way down his chest. Xander wasn’t wearing his armor; he felt every minute movement Laslow made through the suddenly too-thin material of his clothing.</p><p>The hand Xander wasn’t using to support his weight tangled itself in Laslow’s hair of its own volition. It felt just as soft as he’d always wondered.</p><p>Something prickled against his side.</p><p>Xander crushed his mouth against Laslow’s with winded desperation. Laslow kissed him back soundlessly.</p><p>The knife slid between his ribs with ease.</p><p>Xander was an expert at deflecting blows. Siegfried’s reach combined with his own practiced diligence ensured that. He made a point to be constantly vigilant of his surroundings, aware of his enemies and allies in equal measure, both on and off the battlefield. It was not arrogance that told Xander that he was a difficult foe to best, even emptyhanded. It was experience.</p><p>And yet, somehow, Laslow had always managed to take him by surprise.</p><p>It was a clean, practiced jab, and still oh-so-painful. Xander cried out in shock and pain as Laslow stabbed him.</p><p>He jerked back, finally shoving Laslow away. His side <em>burned</em> with pain and heat.</p><p>“Guards!” Xander bellowed. Where was his sword? Across the room, too far to reach, surely. “Guards!”</p><p>Laslow didn’t outwardly react to his yelling. His face was still as impassive as it had been when he’d wandered in to Xander’s tent, as unaffected as when he’d crawled next to Xander and <em>kissed</em> him. What Xander had at first mistaken for nerves, he now registered as brutal calculation.</p><p>The dagger was inside him still. His side throbbed.</p><p>Xander’s lips burned along with his chest. He felt as though he’d been poisoned.</p><p>“Guards!” he cried again. He and Laslow were both quickly scrambling to their feet, muscle memory overtaking shock.</p><p>Still, he couldn’t push through the pain fast enough to stand. Laslow, ever swift footed, made it up first, and he leapt at Xander with lightning speed.</p><p>Already off balance, Xander toppled to the ground. Laslow was on top of him in an instant, his hand curling around the dagger’s hilt with deceptive strength. In that same moment, Xander grabbed Laslow’s arm and dug into Laslow’s wrist <em>hard</em> to force his grip to loosen.</p><p>Despite the pain he must have been feeling, Laslow did not falter. Xander, for all his might, could not muster the muscle to throw his once trusted retainer off of him once more.</p><p>His side was growing wetter by the second. His arms trembled from the effort of keeping Laslow at bay; Laslow bore down with surprising strength, pressing the dagger into Xander with awful, aching precision and slowness.</p><p>Seconds stretched on for an eternity. Xander’s mind whirred. The dagger in his side was evidence enough, and yet he could barely wrap his mind around what was happening.</p><p>In a hundred years, he never would have thought Laslow capable of—</p><p>He’d always taken it for granted that Laslow—</p><p>He cried out as the dagger slipped in another centimeter.</p><p>They locked eyes, Laslow’s blue irises as blank and calm as the surface of a lake.</p><p>Xander had <em>trusted</em> him.</p><p>Wait.</p><p>Blue?</p><p>That wasn’t—</p><p>“<em>You</em>,” Xander hissed between his teeth.</p><p>Laslow <em>twisted</em> the dagger inside of him. Pain flexed its deadly claws between Xander’s ribs once more. He grunted, pushing through the sting in his side, and jerked up, knocking his forehead against Laslow’s.</p><p>Stars exploded behind his eyes, and his side <em>screamed</em> from the movement. Laslow jolted back from the force of the blow, but he didn’t seem particularly pained from the force of the headbutt.</p><p>Meanwhile, Xander’s skull throbbed. It took all of his strength and focus just to keep Laslow from twisting the knife further.</p><p>Laslow narrowed his eyes and—</p><p>A sword was thrust cleanly through his chest from behind. Laslow’s grip on the knife’s handle immediately went slack. Xander, gasping, let him go.</p><p>It was a clean slice in more ways than one, he observed dully. No blood stained the steel of his savior’s sword. A trickle of clear liquid began to leak from the wound.</p><p>Xander took a shaky breath in. His side throbbed.</p><p>Then Laslow—Laslow’s <em>doppelganger</em>, Xander mentally corrected—burst like an overripe melon. Water splashed all over Xander’s front. Within seconds, he was completely soaked.</p><p>And suddenly there was no indication Laslow’s double had ever been there at all.</p><p>Flat on his back on the tent floor, Xander looked up at his saviors.</p><p>Two nervous looking guards—one significantly more panicked than the other—stood above him.</p><p>The one who had just killed Laslow’s double lowered his sword with a shaky hand. He took a step back, wide-eyed.</p><p>The other guard eyed the knife in Xander’s side anxiously.</p><p>“My Lord, are you...” She looked around like another enemy was about to jump out of the shadows of the tent. “What was that creature?”</p><p>“An assassin,” Xander grit out. “Would either of you mind helping me ensure I don’t bleed out in the next five minutes?”</p><p>The nervous guard with the sword jumped. “Oh, yes, my lord! We already called out for healers when we heard you yelling, so they should be here any moment! Please hold on until then! I—I’ll step out and wave them down, so—”</p><p>The guard with a spear was already lowering herself to the floor to inspect the wound. True to the other guard’s word, Xander could already hear frantic footsteps on the other side of the tent fabric. More people must have heard his call than he’d initially suspected.</p><p>That was lucky. A few more seconds, and he might have…</p><p>Xander sighed through his nose. It was going to be a long, long day.</p>
<hr/><p>“And it looked like <em>me</em>?” Laslow—the real Laslow—repeated. “Lord Xander, I would <em>never</em>—”</p><p>“I <em>know</em>, Laslow,” Xander said tiredly. His side was mostly healed through the efforts of several healers who poked and prodded his tender skin until they were assured the next leader of Nohr was not about to keel over anytime soon. It still ached under the unnecessary bandages they had insisted he wear. “I have more trust in you than that. I know you aren’t collaborating with the enemy.”</p><p>“Thank you, milord.” Still, Laslow’s mouth was twisted with concern. Xander had to wrench his gaze away, chastising himself not to linger. “I just can’t believe it got that close to you. Or this far into camp, for that matter! That must be some nasty magic at play here.”</p><p>“It wore a friendly face,” Xander said with a sigh. “It knew exactly what it was doing.”</p><p>“I suppose so.”</p><p>They were quiet for a moment. The muted hustle and bustle outside the tent went ignored.</p><p>Xander shifted on the little healer’s cot he’d been placed upon. He had no problem standing, but Laslow and Peri had both fussed until he’d laid back down. Peri was gone now, eagerly running around in search of any more assassins she could kill with her own hands, but Xander still suspected he’d be lectured if he tried sitting up again so soon.</p><p>The rest of the tent was empty. It was only the two of them, and Laslow was assuredly himself this time.</p><p>Soldiers had been stationed for patrol at every vulnerable juncture of camp—the tent of the wounded crown prince included. The danger had mostly passed, and yet the air still felt thick with tension. Xander could not simply walk out as he normally might have preferred to do.</p><p>Laslow’s shoulders abruptly jumped as though he’d been jolted out of his thoughts. “Wait, are there other doubles walking around camp as we speak? Other copies of people we haven’t caught yet?”</p><p>“I’d be surprised if there had just been the one,” Xander said grimly. “I’ve already spread the word that everyone should be on high alert. If anyone sees a person they would normally call a friend acting strangely, they are to report it through the appropriate channels immediately.”</p><p>Laslow nodded, relaxing a little. Then he looked thoughtful. “What kind of suspicious behavior did my double do, if you don’t mind me asking? Besides the, ah, trying to kill you part, I mean.”</p><p>He smiled crookedly.</p><p>Xander glanced down before he could stop himself.</p><p>Laslow’s fingers were playing with his shirtsleeves. He was nervous. His hands looked just as calloused as his double’s had felt, obviously from years of handling a sword.</p><p>Xander dimly wondered how accurate the magic had been—if the real Laslow’s lips were just as soft as his double’s had felt too.</p><p>“Milord?” Laslow asked after a beat. His brow was furrowed with concern. “Are you in pain? Should I call for the healers back?”</p><p>“No,” Xander said quickly, chiding himself. “I was merely thinking. Your double tried to catch me off guard. That was all.”</p><p>Laslow did not look very convinced, but thankfully he nodded and let it go. “Alright then. I’ll join the search and leave you here to rest. You probably feel a little uneasy looking at me right now anyway.”</p><p>Then Laslow chuckled like such a suggestion was a joke.</p><p>For a brief moment, a weak part of Xander was tempted to say it was fine, he could stay as long as he wanted.</p><p>Instead, he nodded. “The quicker the camp is secured, the better. Make sure to stay in groups of three at all times.”</p><p>“Understood!” Laslow sent him a loose salute. He hesitated at the exit flap of the tent, however. “I truly am glad that you’re alright, milord. I’m sorry that Peri and I weren’t there when we should have been. I don’t want to think about could have happened if someone else hadn’t come along to help you.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” Xander assured him. He was eager for the silence that would be upon him once Laslow left. “You were only following orders. You two are my retainers, but I rely on more than just you two to ensure the safety of the camp.”</p><p>Laslow shook his head, dismissing a silent thought.</p><p>“Speak, Laslow. Do not go out there distracted.”</p><p>Laslow looked surprised for a moment. Then he smiled wryly. “I’m sorry. It’s just—It’s a little strange to think about the enemy walking around with my own face, you know? I mean, just think about all the dreadful things someone could do while pretending to be me!”</p><p> “Yes,” agreed Xander. His lips tingled, and he felt the phantom weight of Laslow settle onto his lap. “Dreadful things indeed.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The working title for this fic was "anankos uses water clone no justsu."</p><p>In reality, Laslow returns Xander's feelings, but of course Xander doesn't know that. Instead, he is cursed to yearn endlessly in every fic of mine. (JK. They get together. Eventually.)</p><p>Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my <a href="http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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